In view of the fact that the field of communications technology is as widespread as it is today, it is not surprising that there would be a large body of prior art relative to antennas.
The field of the present invention is that of portable antennas, and more particularly portable, collapsible, and deployable antennas. These devices are most useful in applications where space is at a premium, such as in satellites, where using an antenna with a large fixed reflector dish is impractical. To address this situation, many structures for antennas with collapsible reflector dishes have been patented.
The prior art is universally addressed to means of collapsing reflector panels, usually rigid, around a central rigid boom. Examples of the prior art are the "FOLDABLE REFLECTOR" of Higgins, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,832; "FOLDING DISH REFLECTOR" of Robert Luly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,475; "COLLAPSIBLE ANTENNA" of Manfred Westphal, U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,167; "DEPLOYABLE OFFSET DISH STRUCTURE" of Palmer, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,190; "UNFOLDABLE ANTENNA REFLECTOR" of Herbig, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,652; and "PORTABLE ANTENNA WITH WEDGE-SHAPED REFLECTIVE PANELS", of Gonzalez, U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,271.
At least one reference describes a collapsible dish without specifying a rigid boom, the "COLLAPSIBLE APPARATUS FOR FORMING A DISH SHAPED SURFACE" of Pappas et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,006. This device does retain the use of rigid elements for the dish itself.
There are some references in the prior art which have recognized the desirability of using flexible panels for the components of the antenna reflector. Examples of this particular advancement are "UNFURLABLE MESH REFLECTOR" of Chang, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,015; and "FOLDABLE ANTENNA REFLECTOR" of Gilles Labruyere, U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,113.
All these prior art devices have as a limitation the fact that they can collapse only around a central boom or central axis, and thus are not of an optimum configuration to minimize storage space requirements.